Having Diabetes Mellitus May Cost The Patient 11.1 Years Of Healthy Life

New York, NY, USA – An 18-year old diabetic person is expected to live an additional 43.4 years of healthy life-11.1 years less than a non-diabetic person of the same age-according to a study by Columbia University in New York, NY and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.

By calculating disease-related quality-adjusted life expectancy (QALE) loss, which takes into account things such as premature death and long-term nonfatal outcomes due to chronic diseases, the researchers examined lifetime effects of 5 chronic conditions (diabetes, hypertension, asthma, heart disease, and stroke)-from 1993 to 2009 for the entire United States and for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The study ranked these five diseases from the most QALE loss to the least QALE loss as: stroke (12.4 years lost), diabetes mellitus (11.1 years lost), heart disease (10.3 years lost), asthma (7.0 years lost), and high blood pressure (6.3 years lost). Using diabetes mellitus as an example, about two thirds of its QALE loss was due to premature death. The data show that diabetes affects patients’ health both during early adulthood as well as later adulthood and women with diabetes lost 3.9 more years of QALE than men with diabetes.

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